At present, in water disinfecting processes, the destruction of the above mentioned contaminants through oxidation is increasingly being accepted, due to growing resistance to the conventional disinfecting treatment with chlorine, brome, hydrogen peroxide, etc. This is also the case with “Legionella”, among other bacteria. Both, the levels of contamination and the corresponding procedures for controlling those levels are subject to the European Community regulations as well as to each autonomous community's laws within Spain. The world trend is to find alternatives to the current disinfecting chemical systems and/or products; thus aiming at processes which are as eco-friendly as possible. This means limiting or substituting those chemical products which might damage the environment.
Since water conductivity varies considerably, the conventional techniques evidence some limitations to their own proper development and implementation with the large variety of types of water. Even though information about studies and attempts to find new alternatives to hydrolysis is available, the present inventor has not found the disclosed technology nor its corresponding processes to be in accordance with the present invention so as to solve the technical limitations which have been identified and solved by the instant invention.
Water disinfecting processes in accordance with the present invention rely upon production of hydroxyl ions, a powerful oxidizing species, by hydrolysis of water molecules to “oxidize” contaminants and/or organic substances present in the contaminated water bodies, regardless of the specific water conductivity of the given water being treated.
As known, chemical “oxidation” of contaminants in water relates to the currently implemented conventional chemical process that utilizes chemical products (chlorine, brome, etc.) or to electronic processes such as salt electrolysis or ozone generator systems.
One of the disadvantages and difficulties of electronic oxidation systems arises from the fact that the production of hydroxyl ions by hydrolysis of water molecules to oxidize contaminants is directly proportional to water conductivity, and such conductivity determines both the hydroxyl ions' effectiveness and quantity. This limits the efficacy of the process.
Water conductivity varies considerably depending on its origin. Measurements show rather different figures; from the conductivity of river water (50-80 ppm) with total dissolved solids, to the conductivity of desalinated water (8,000 ppm). Thus, hydrolysis of water molecules wherein continuous voltage power is applied to the electrodes in the water (per the basic technique of any electrolysis) generates amperage in the electrodes which is directly proportional to the conductivity of the contaminated water. This means that hydrolysis processes with low conductivity water are not very effective since the generated amperage will not be sufficient to obtain the necessary levels of hydroxyl ions for properly oxidizing water contaminants (viruses, bacteria, algae, etc.). Likewise, hydrolysis of high conductivity water, suffers from problems at the hydroxyl ion generation source. In this particular case, the problem is in the electronic control unit that supplies the continuous voltage into the electrodes, because the high conductivity of water might damage the electronic system of the control unit due to excessive current draw.